She previously was a member of the [[U.S. House]] from 2007 to 2013, the [[Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii]] from 1994 to 2002 and a member of the [[Hawaii House of Representatives]] from 1980 to 1994.<ref name="bioguide">[http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=H001042 ''Bioguide'' "Mazie K. Hirono" Accessed June 20, 2013]</ref>

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Based on an analysis of bill sponsorship by ''GovTrack'', Hirono is a "[[GovTrack's Political Spectrum & Legislative Leadership ranking|far-left Democrat]]".<ref>[http://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/mazie_hirono/412200 ''Gov Track'' "Hirono" Accessed May 23, 2012]</ref>

[[File:Mazie Hirono 2012 Donor Breakdown.PNG|right|375px|thumb|Breakdown of the source of Hirono's campaign funds before the 2012 election.]]

[[File:Mazie Hirono 2012 Donor Breakdown.PNG|right|375px|thumb|Breakdown of the source of Hirono's campaign funds before the 2012 election.]]

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Hirono won election to the [[U.S. Senate]] in 2012. During that election cycle, Hirono's campaign committee raised a total of $5,514,418 and spent $5,644,498.<ref>[http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cid=N00028139&cycle=2012 ''Open Secrets'' "Mazie Hirono 2012 Election Cycle," Accessed February 19, 2013]</ref>

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Hirono won election to the [[United States Senate|U.S. Senate]] in 2012. During that election cycle, Hirono's campaign committee raised a total of $5,514,418 and spent $5,644,498.<ref>[http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cid=N00028139&cycle=2012 ''Open Secrets'' "Mazie Hirono 2012 Election Cycle," Accessed February 19, 2013]</ref>

Based on an analysis of bill sponsorship by ''GovTrack'', Hirono is a "[[GovTrack's Political Spectrum & Legislative Leadership ranking|moderate Democratic follower]]," as of June 20, 2013.<ref>[http://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/mazie_hirono/412200 ''Gov Track'' "Hirono" Accessed June 20, 2013]</ref>

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===Lifetime voting record===

===Lifetime voting record===

::''See also: [[Lifetime voting records of United States Senators and Representatives]]''

::''See also: [[Lifetime voting records of United States Senators and Representatives]]''

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According to the website ''GovTrack,'' Hirono missed 0 of 92 roll call votes from January 2013 to March 2013. This amounts to 0.00%, which is better than the median of 1.7% among currently serving senators as of March 2013.<ref>[http://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/mazie_hirono/412200 ''GovTrack,'' "Chris Hirono," Accessed March 29, 2013]</ref>

According to the website ''GovTrack,'' Hirono missed 0 of 92 roll call votes from January 2013 to March 2013. This amounts to 0.00%, which is better than the median of 1.7% among currently serving senators as of March 2013.<ref>[http://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/mazie_hirono/412200 ''GovTrack,'' "Chris Hirono," Accessed March 29, 2013]</ref>

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===Congressional Staff Salaries===

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===Congressional staff salaries===

::''See also: [[Staff salaries of United States Senators and Representatives]]''

::''See also: [[Staff salaries of United States Senators and Representatives]]''

The website ''Legistorm'' compiles staff salary information for members of Congress. Hirono paid her congressional staff a total of $880,146 in 2011. She ranks 22nd on the list of the lowest paid Democratic Representative Staff Salaries and she ranks 120th overall of the lowest paid Representative Staff Salaries in 2011. Overall, [[Hawaii]] ranks 40th in average salary for representative staff. The average [[U.S. House of Representatives]] congressional staff was paid $954,912.20 in fiscal year 2011.<ref>[http://www.legistorm.com/member/843/Rep_Mazie_Hirono.html LegiStorm "Mazie K. Hirono "]</ref>

The website ''Legistorm'' compiles staff salary information for members of Congress. Hirono paid her congressional staff a total of $880,146 in 2011. She ranks 22nd on the list of the lowest paid Democratic Representative Staff Salaries and she ranks 120th overall of the lowest paid Representative Staff Salaries in 2011. Overall, [[Hawaii]] ranks 40th in average salary for representative staff. The average [[U.S. House of Representatives]] congressional staff was paid $954,912.20 in fiscal year 2011.<ref>[http://www.legistorm.com/member/843/Rep_Mazie_Hirono.html LegiStorm "Mazie K. Hirono "]</ref>

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====Staff bonuses====

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{{Congbonuses

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|Name=Hirono

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|Amount=$40,649.10

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}}

===Net worth===

===Net worth===

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Each year ''National Journal'' publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of congress voted in the previous year. Hirono ranked 26th in the liberal rankings.<ref>[http://www.nationaljournal.com/voteratings2011/searchable-vote-ratings-tables-house-20120223 ''National Journal,'' "Searchable Vote Ratings Tables: House," February 23, 2012]</ref>

Each year ''National Journal'' publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of congress voted in the previous year. Hirono ranked 26th in the liberal rankings.<ref>[http://www.nationaljournal.com/voteratings2011/searchable-vote-ratings-tables-house-20120223 ''National Journal,'' "Searchable Vote Ratings Tables: House," February 23, 2012]</ref>

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===Political Positions===

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===Voting with party===

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====Percentage voting with party====

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====2013====

{{Congress vote percent

{{Congress vote percent

|name=Mazie K. Hirono

|name=Mazie K. Hirono

|party=Democratic

|party=Democratic

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|percent=94

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|percent=95.4%

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|rank=32

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|rank=22nd

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|total=192

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|total=52

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|chamber=House

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|chamber=Senate

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|year=November 2011

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|year=June 2013

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|DHouse=Y

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|DSen=Y

}}

}}

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Hirono is married to Leighton Kim Oshima. She currently resides in Honolulu, [[Hawaii]].<ref name="biography"/>

Hirono is married to Leighton Kim Oshima. She currently resides in Honolulu, [[Hawaii]].<ref name="biography"/>

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==Recent news==

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This section displays the most recent stories in a Google news search for the term '''Mazie + Hirono + Hawaii + Senate'''

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:''All stories may not be relevant to this page due to the nature of the search engine.''

Based on analysis of multiple outside rankings, Hirono is an average Democratic member of Congress, meaning she will vote with the Democratic Party on the majority of bills.

Biography

Born in Fukushima, Japan on November 3, 1947, Hirono became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1959, the year Hawaii became a state. She is the first immigrant woman of Asian ancestry and the first Buddhist [4] to be sworn into Congressional office [5] Educated in Hawaii's public school system, Hirono graduated with honors from Kaimuki High School and Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Hawai'i at Manoa. She earned her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C., where she focused on public interest law.[5]

Issues

Cut, Cap, and Balance Act

Hirono voted against the Cut, Cap, and Balance Act in mid-July 2011. Many fiscal conservatives say the act is necessary to bring the United States' growing budget deficit under control. The bill passed the U.S. House by a vote of 234 yeas to 190 nays. The act is facing tougher challenge in the U.S. Senate and does not have the president's support.

The Republican-introduced bill proposes to raise the debt ceiling in exchange for "opening the door to deep cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid," as Hirono said in a written statement.

Hirono called the bill "deceptive" in the statement and that the bill also makes cuts to education, transportation and research and development.

“America needs to meet our financial obligations because defaulting on them would likely send us into a deeper recession. This is not a game. People across Hawaii want to see real compromise, not gimmicks like this that threaten Medicare and Social Security," Hirono said. “We’re facing default in two weeks and these games are burning up the clock. We need Republican leaders to end the antics and start addressing the most pressing problems facing our country: creating jobs and getting our economy moving again.”[8]

"Mainland" earmarks

For Fiscal Year 2009, the State of Hawaii was one of the top recipients of “mainland money” in the form of Congressional earmarks, receiving $210 dollars in “mainland money” per capita ($270,736,707 total). Maine, a comparable state in population, received only $55 per capita in earmarks.

Hirono sought 71 earmarks for a total of $162,135,002 in “mainland money.” In sum, Hawaii’s congressional delegation unsuccessfully attempted to flood $986,472,661 in “mainland money” to the islands for FY09.[9]

Specific votes

Fiscal Cliff

Hirono voted for the fiscal cliff compromise bill, which made permanent most of the Bush tax cuts originally passed in 2001 and 2003 while also raising tax rates on the highest income levels. She was one of 172 Democrats that voted in favor of the bill. The bill was passed in the House by a 257/167 vote on January 1, 2013.[10]

Polls

General election

Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org.

Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org.

Endorsements

In a rare cross-party endorsement, Hirono received the endorsement of AlaskanRepublicanRepresentativeDon Young on July 24, 2012, for her primary battle.[12] The two created a 90 second video discussing bipartisanship and Young endorsed Hirono for U.S. Senate. “Though Don Young is certainly a Republican, and I am clearly a Democrat, we’ve forged a partnership that enables us to solve problems for the people of both Hawaii and Alaska,” Hirono stated in the video.[12]

Republican candidate Linda Lingle responded to the surprise endorsement, critcizing Young as "controversial" and alluding to his past ethics issues.[13]Lingle's campaign manager Bob Lee said in a statement following Hirono's release of the new ad, "It should be troubling to the people of Hawaii that Mazie Hirono's first attempt to convey any example of bipartisanship is a video advertisement with one of the House of Representatives's most controversial members, who even Mazie's fellow Democrats have criticized on a range of ethics and spending issues."[13]

Hirono also received an endorsement from Lingle's opponent in the Republican primary, John Carroll.[14] In his endorsement he states “So, my decision on whom to support is based on my perception of the candidate’s character and sincerity to help Hawaii. Of the two [Lingle and Hirono], I believe Mazie is predictable on issues and is of good and honest character, similar to Senator Daniel Akaka.”[14]

U.S. House of Representatives, Hawaii's 2nd Congressional District, 2010

Party

Candidate

Vote %

Votes

Democratic

Mazie K. HironoIncumbent

72.2%

132,290

Republican

John W. Willoughby

25.3%

46,404

Libertarian

Pat Brock

1.8%

3,254

Independent

Andrew Vsevolod Von Sonn

0.7%

1,310

Total Votes

183,258

Campaign donors

Comprehensive donor information for Hirono is available dating back to 2006. Based on available campaign finance records, Hirono raised a total of $9,169,110 during that time period. This information was last updated on April 3, 2013.[17]

Lifetime voting record

According to the website GovTrack, Hirono missed 0 of 92 roll call votes from January 2013 to March 2013. This amounts to 0.00%, which is better than the median of 1.7% among currently serving senators as of March 2013.[21]

Congressional staff salaries

The website Legistorm compiles staff salary information for members of Congress. Hirono paid her congressional staff a total of $880,146 in 2011. She ranks 22nd on the list of the lowest paid Democratic Representative Staff Salaries and she ranks 120th overall of the lowest paid Representative Staff Salaries in 2011. Overall, Hawaii ranks 40th in average salary for representative staff. The average U.S. House of Representatives congressional staff was paid $954,912.20 in fiscal year 2011.[22]

Staff bonuses

According to an analysis by CNN, Hirono was one of nearly 25 percent of House members who gave their staff bonuses in 2012. Hirono's staff was given an apparent $40,649.10 in bonus money.[23]

Net worth

2011

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org - The Center for Responsive Politics, Hirono's net worth as of 2011 was estimated between $1,431,037 and $3,524,999. That averages to $2,478,018, which is lower than the average net worth of Democratic Senators in 2011 of $20,795,450. His average net worth increased by 4.89% from 2010.[24]

2010

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org - The Center for Responsive Politics, Hirono's net worth as of 2010 was estimated between $1,350,034 and $3,374,999. That averages to $2,362,516.50, which is lower than the average net worth of Democratic Representatives in 2010 of $4,465,875.[25]